Woman who had hoped for lung transplant dies

Central Square native Pam Miles has lost her long battle with cystic fibrosis, an incurable disease diagnosed in 1984 when she was a senior at Paul V. Moore High School.

Miles was at her home in Arlington, Va., Friday afternoon when her lungs began hemorrhaging, said Heathere Evans-Keenan, one of her closest friends. She died minutes later, in an ambulance en route to the hospital.

She was 41.

"All of us knew that lung hemorrhage was a possibility with advanced-stage (cystic fibrosis), but we honestly never thought about that," Evans-Keenan said. "We all believed so strongly that she would make it to transplant, and long after, so that's where we focused our attention."

In June 2006, doctors told Miles she wouldn't survive six months without a lung transplant. Her condition was so critical she was placed at the top of the list at her transplant center.

But survive she did, making every day she lived something special.

The owner of Miles Communications in Arlington and a former president of the Public Relations Society of America's National Capital Chapter, Miles remained active with her job as long as she was physically able.

When that was no longer possible, she became a voracious reader, enjoyed time with her beloved cocker spaniel, Livvy, and kept in daily phone contact with family and friends.

Miles continued to enjoy shopping for top-quality shoes and gourmet chocolates -- two of her greatest passions -- and spending time with a loving circle of friends.

"Pam never let this disease get her down, and she was an inspiration to everyone who knew her," said colleague and friend Mary-Jane Atwater. "She didn't obsess about it or wallow in it, and she lived a very full life for 41 years."

Without a transplant, victims of cystic fibrosis generally don't live beyond their 30s.

"I think Pam's will to live and her enthusiasm for life kept her going," Atwater said. "She never lost hope that a new set of lungs would become available."

Evans-Keenan was one of the last people to talk with Miles.

"We talked and laughed about everything, just the normal things we always talked about," she said. "She was feeling great, running errands ... (and) 45 minutes later the (emergency medical technician) called me from her house. It all happened so very, very fast."

For that small blessing, friends said, they will always be grateful.

"Thank you, God, that she didn't suffer," Evans-Keenan said. "She had already suffered enough and I think God probably decided she had learned everything she needed to learn, done everything she needed to do, and that it was time for her to come home."

Calling hours for Miles are 2 to 5 p.m. Thursday at Traub Funeral Home, in Central Square, followed by the funeral at 5 p.m.

There will also be a memorial service at 5 p.m. Sept. 30 at Unitarian Universalist Church, in Arlington, Va.

"We will focus on celebrating Pam's life, and that's exactly what Pam would have wanted," Evans-Keenan said. "She would not want us to be sad. She would want us to do something that made us laugh."